During the forthcoming year we will carefully study the bleaching of all-trans and of 11-cis retinal using short light pulses. We have developed apparatus to make accurate spectral measurements over a wide range (uv to red) using a pulsed continuum, and this will be used to study rhodopsins through CARS and through two-photon absorption in addition to conventional transient absorption measurements. Studies of the nature of fluorescence in relation to Raman scattering will be completed by measuring the spectral distribution of light scattered by a short light pulse. We are presently trying to measure the fluorescence lifetimes for the retinals. Our studies of vibrational relaxation in prototype aromatics and nitrogen heterocyclics will continue with resonance Raman and fluorescence studies of pyridazine, s-tetrazine, and azulene. We plan to complete studies of the absorption spectra of single crystals of the polyenes 11-cis and all-trans retinal at various temperatures, and in addition to obtain resonance Raman spectra of these single crystals. For further detailed understanding of optical processes in the solid state we are pursuing the detailed two-photon absorption spectroscopy of the benzene crystal. We hope to start on the study of transient optical spectra of hemeproteins before the end of the forthcoming year.